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Type 63 Amphibious Tank
The Type 63 is an amphibious tank based on the Soviet PT-76 tank built in China. Design The Type 63 has a flat, boat-like hull similar to the design of the PT-76, apart from a nearly horizontal glacis plate and different engine grills. There are three separate vertical slot side inlets on the Type 63, in contrast to the single large inlet with inset vertical baffle plates on the PT-76. The turret has a ventilator dome with a snorkel fitting. The suspension has six road wheels and no return rollers. A half-egg-shape turret is mounted over the middle of the hull, with the powerpack compartment in the rear. Instead of a three-man crew on the PT-76, the Type 63 has a four-man crew for better efficiency. The tank is powered by a liquid cooled 400 hp 12150L2 diesel, giving the tank a maximum road speed of 36km and 12km in water. Type 63A The Type 63A is an modernised upgraded version of the Type 63, specially designed for maritime amphibious warfare. Unlike the original Type 63/PT-76, which was mainly intended for river-crossing operations at inland rivers and lakes, the Type 63A could be launched from amphibious warfare ships 5~7km offshore and travel shore at a high speed. The tank was also equipped with computerised fire-control to enable accurate firing both on land and at sea. By introducing an enlarged welded turret to replace the original “half-egg” shape turret, the designer was able to replace the original 85mm gun with a dual-way stabilised 105mm rifled gun derived from the main gun of the Type 59D and Type 88 main battle tanks (MBT), but with reduced recoil for firing in swimming. The tank gun can fire armour piercing fin stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS), high explosive (HE), and high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) ammunitions, with 45 rounds carried inside the vehicle. The APFSDS round could penetrate 650mm steel armour or destroy a reinforced concrete bunker a distance of 2,000m. Despite the introduction of an FCS, the tank is still unable to fire accurately while travelling in the sea due to the effect the sea wave. To overcome this problem, the Type 63A was added with the ability to fire the laser- beam guidance ATGM. The PRC has developed a 105mm gun-launched ATGM based on the Russian 9M117 Bastion technology. The missile has a maximum firing range of 4,000~5,000m, with a single hit probability of over 90% against static targets. As well as being used for anti-armour warfare, the missile can also be used to engage low-flying helicopters. Weapon System The basic variant Type 63 is fitted with a Type 62-85TC rifled 85mm gun that can fire AP, APHE, HE, and HEAT rounds, with a firing speed of 8 rounds/min. The gun is not stabilised and is aimed via an optical gun sight. Secondary weapons include a coaxial 7.62mm machine gun and a 12.7mm air-defence machine gun. The later variant Type 63-I is fitted with a 105mm rifled gun similar to those fitted on the Type 59II/69 and Type 80. The gun can fire armour piercing fin stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS) as well as other standard ammunitions. The tank is also fitted with a primitive light spot fire-control with night vision channel and laser rangefinder input. Operational History China The Type 63 was intended for Chinese ground forces to operate in the water regions and rice paddy fields in southern China, which are difficult for conventional main battle tanks. Later the tank was also adopted by the PLA Marine Corps for the amphibious assault operation before the '91 Disaster after which many found their way into the hands of the countless warlords who appeared across the former People's Republic of China in the 1990s. Category:Tanks